Back up photos during import

If you’re copying or moving photos into the catalog, you can create a one-time copy, or backup, of the original photo files. In the File Handling panel on the right side of the import window, select Make A Second Copy To and specify a location.

הערה:

You still need to regularly back up your photos and catalog. For more detailed information on backing up Lightroom Classic CC, see Back up a catalog.

Ignore duplicates when importing

Lightroom Classic CC determines a photo is a duplicate of another file in the catalog if it has the same, original filename; the same Exif capture date and time; and the same file size. You can instruct Lightroom Classic CC to disregard duplicate files when importing.

In the File Handling panel on the right side of
the import window, select Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates.

Specify initial previews

As photos are imported, Lightroom Classic CC can immediately
display a photo’s embedded preview, or display higher-quality previews
as the program renders them. Embedded previews are created by cameras
and are not color managed, so embedded previews don’t match how
Lightroom Classic CC interprets the camera raw files. Previews rendered by
Lightroom Classic CC take longer to generate but are color managed.

In the File Handling panel on the right side of the import window, choose an option from the Build Previews menu:

Display the largest possible preview available from the camera. This option may take longer than a Minimal preview but is still faster than rendering a standard-size preview. For more details, see Work with Embedded Previews.

Standard

Display previews as Lightroom Classic CC renders them. Standard-size previews use the Adobe RGB color space and are what you see in the Fit zoom level of the Loupe view. Specify the Standard preview size in the Catalog Settings dialog box. See Customize catalog settings.

Smart Previews allow you to edit images that are not physically connected to your computer. Smart Preview files are a lightweight, smaller, file format based on the lossy DNG file format. See Smart Previews for more information.

Work with Embedded Previews

Embedded previews are generated when you select Build Previews option as Embedded & Sidecar in the File Handling menu at the upper-right corner of the Import window.

Embedded and Sidecar option in the Import window

When you select this preview option, you can scroll through a large set of images quickly in the Library module and also perform 1:1 zoom quicker. The rendering of Embedded previews is prioritized based on the folder you are viewing. For example, if you import and add images to multiple folders, you can immediately begin scrolling through the images as they get added.

In the Library module, Embedded Previews are indicated by icon in the Grid view and Embedded Preview overlay text in the Loupe view as shown below.

(Left) Embedded Preview icon at the upper-left of the image thumbnail in the Grid view. (Right) Embedded Preview overlay text at the lower-right corner of the image in the Loupe view.

Replace Embedded Previews with Standard Previews

The Library module retains Embedded Previews until you edit them or you choose to generate other previews. A preference setting in Lightroom Classic preferences allows you automatically replace Embedded Previews with Standard Previews automatically whenever your system is idle. To select this preference setting, do the following:

From the menu bar, choose Edit (Win)/Lightroom (Mac) > Preferences.

In the Preferences dialog, go to the General tab.

In the Import Options section, select Replace Embedded Previews With Standard Previews during Idle Time. By default, this option is deselected.

Rename photos when importing

When copying or moving photos into the catalog
during import, you can specify how the files are named.

In the File Renaming panel on the right side of
the import window, select Rename Files.

Choose a naming option from the Template pop-up menu. For descriptions of the choices, see Naming options. If you choose an option that uses a custom name, type the name in the Custom Text field.

(Optional) If you don’t want a custom numeric sequence to start with “1,” enter a value in the Start Number field.

Apply Develop settings to photos when importing

Any Develop settings preset can be applied
to photos as they are imported. This is especially useful for applying
Develop settings to photos from a camera for which you created a
Develop preset.

In the Apply During Import panel on the right
side of the import window, choose a setting from the Develop Settings
menu.

Apply metadata and keywords to photos when importing

In the Apply During Import panel on
the right side of the import window, choose any of the following
options from the Metadata menu:

To not apply metadata to photos during import, choose None.

To apply a set of metadata that you saved as a template, choose a metadata preset from the menu.

To apply a new set of metadata to photos while importing, choose New and enter the information in the New Metadata Preset dialog box.

הערה:

When adding metadata to photos, Lightroom Classic CC doesn’t
apply the data to proprietary camera raw files but to their sidecar
XMP files.

To add keywords to photos while importing, type them in the Keywords text box. Use commas to separate the keywords.